Work starts on £2 million affordable housing scheme in Briston

Work has started to build 17 new affordable homes at Briston, in a £2 million investment in the village.

The ground was ceremonially broken today (Friday 5th December) at the site on Church Street in the village by Darryl Cox of Victory Housing Trust and James Ollington of constructor Wellington to mark the start of construction, with the new homes set to be delivered by the end of next year.

The mixture of flats, houses and bungalows is being built by Lowestoft-based constructor Wellington, a firm which is delivering an increasing number of affordable homes across Norfolk and Suffolk.

Fourteen of the new homes will be made available for affordable rental, with the remaining three offered on a shared ownership basis. £1.71 million of the £2 million cost is being paid by Victory, with the remaining £286,000 coming from grant funding from the Homes & Communities Agency (HCA).

James Ollington of Wellington, which has built affordable homes for Victory in North Walsham and Hindringham in the past couple of years, said, “We are delighted once again to be working with Victory to build much-needed new affordable homes in north Norfolk. We are building a strong reputation for delivering high quality homes for housing associations in East Anglia, and we are very pleased to be a partner in Victory’s ambitious new build programme.”

Darryl Cox, deputy chief executive of Victory, which has pledged to build 1,000 new homes in the ten years to 2023, commented, “Meeting the tough targets we have set ourselves means that we need to keep bringing forward new developments, and this one in Briston is an excellent example of working in partnership to do just that.

“By combining our own resources with HCA money, we have been able to invest just over £2 million in Briston, providing much-needed affordable homes for this rural community.”

The new homes will consist of four one-bed flats; four two-bed flats; one one-bed bungalow; three two-bed bungalows; one two-bed wheelchair accessible bungalow; three two-bed houses; and one three-bed house.